Construction of office/commercial buildings with glazed frame and window assemblies are becoming more common. The construction of these office/commercial buildings with large structural windows is labor intensive, expensive, difficult to maintain high quality control, and potentially dangerous for workers handling large sheets of glass, all of which are affected by adverse weather conditions and adverse conditions at the installation site.
The typical material used for the frames of structural windows in office/commercial buildings is aluminum. Wood is another material that may be used as well as laminated veneer lumber ("LVL"), as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,848,053, which has the same inventor as the present invention. U.S. Pat. No. 4,848,053 is incorporated herein by reference. The use of LVL in the frame provides far greater strength than aluminum in supporting the glass in a structural flame and window assembly (especially if the frame and window assembly needs to be lifted and moved).
The present invention relates to "structural" flame and window assemblies which are for large office/commercial buildings and not "residential" type of windows. Residential windows are fairly lightweight and generally can be lifted by one person. The strength of the frame for a residential window is far less critical than the strength of the frame for a structural window that may be installed many stories above the ground where it is subject to high wind forces and wind sheer. A structural window is much larger and heavier (e.g., it may weigh more than 500 pounds). Therefore, the structural frame and window assemblies for office/commercial buildings that are the subject of the present invention are much more difficult to handle and install. The present invention provides a vast improvement over the prior art regarding structural windows for office/commercial buildings.
A typical way to build and install structural frame and window assemblies is to first build the frame in the opening in an office/commercial building at the installation site where the window is to be installed. After the flame is built in the opening, the glass is inserted and secured within the frame and then sealed. This has many drawbacks, including the fact that large, heavy sheets of glass are delivered to the installation site and must be handled manually by workers who are exposed to dangers when breakage occurs. This is complicated by the fact that many installation sites have uneven and/or muddy ground over which the workers must walk while carrying the large, heavy sheets of glass. The workers must bring all of the appropriate tools to the installation site, the workers may need to move the large, heavy sheets of glass up many stories above the ground to install the glass in the frame in the opening of the office/commercial building.
The present invention overcomes the problems in the prior art by providing a method of pre-glazing a structural frame and window assembly in a controlled factory environment at a remote location from the installation site, the frame and window assembly being intended for use in an office/commercial building, transporting the pre-glazed frame and window assembly to the installation site, and installing the pre-glazed frame and window assembly in the office/commercial building at the installation site. The remote location where the structural frame and window assembly is fabricated and glazed is a controlled factory environment, which avoids weather-related problems, installation site problems such as uneven ground and mud, the need for workers to have all tools at the installation site in order to build the frame and install the glass in the frame, wasted time of workers travelling to and from the installation site and waiting for materials and/or equipment to arrive, and avoids some of the dangers with dealing with large, heavy sheets of glass that are not in frames. Pre-glazing the frame and window assembly in a controlled factory environment enables higher quality control than would be possible on installation sites for a number of reasons including the effects of cold weather when sealing the frame and window assembly, supervisors can more easily check the work of others without going out to the installation site to do so. Furthermore, all of the sheets of glass can be delivered to the controlled factory environment where the pre-glazed structural frame and window assemblies are fabricated, thereby decreasing the amount of broken glass that occurs on installation sites.